2nd game of the season.

The second game of the season was a miserable loss.  Alea at least looked cute with the cute soccer ribbon and red ribbon in her hair.  :)

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alea scored her first soccer goal during a game last night.  Davin and I were very excited!!!  She even got to play goalie for a while and no one scored on her while she was in that position!  We were so excited.  Go Red Dragons!

OAMC September

I did a little freezer cooking today.  Here is what I made:

Chicken Rice Casserole (2 dinners)
Dr. Pepper Spaghetti (2 dinners)
Low Fat Chicken Pepsi (1 dinner)
Sweet Onion Pork Chops (2 dinners)
Ham, Broccoli and Cheddar Roll (2 dinners)

I also made the make ahead mashed potatoes for this week.  I think I am going to put a roast in the crock pot on Thursday and we will have the potatoes to go along with the roast.

Blog layout.

I am not a fan of this blog layout.  Everyone else has their pictures right next to their post.  I can't figure it out.  Anyway, new pics are posted below.

2nd Grade

Alea seems to be loving 2nd grade. Blake, a boy with severe disabilities, is in her class (although he spends most of his day in another room that can better meet his needs) and Alea LOVES to help Blake as much as possible. The assistant principal stopped me the other day in the hall to tell me what a great helper Alea is with Blake and how Alea already knows how to work a wheelchair all on her own. I am so proud of her kind heart and helping spirit.

The Lake House

This weekend we went to my brother in laws lake house on Grand Lake in Oklahoma. It was a pretty rough weekend.

I LOVE to ride the jet ski and for the first time I fell off. The falling off part was pretty funny...it was the getting back on part (in deep water) that was not funny (although I kept laughing hysterically). I do not have the upper (or lower, or mid) body strength that I should have and could not get back on by myself. I tried forever though. Luckily I was close enough to the house that my brother in law came out and helped me. I have sore muscles EVERYWHERE and some major bruises to prove my injuries. I still love to jet ski...I just don't love trying to get back on in deep water.

Late afternoon Davin got a call from work that one of his employees was drunk at work. He had to leave the lake house and drive home. Round trip it was 3 hours of driving. I felt so bad for him. Once he got there they have a company they call to do this kind of testing. Wouldn't you know it the lady on call had to come in from the lake too. When it was all said and done the guy blew a zero....not drunk. False alarm. I guess he smelled like alcohol from drinking the day before he came to work (hint: brush your teeth dude!).

By the time Davin got back to the lake we had another round of drama. Danica (my sister in law) was walking Dempsey (their 1 1/2 year old) out of the kitchen and Dempsey didn't want to go so she pulled her legs up while Danica was still holding on to her hand and Danica heard a pop in Dempsey's arm. Dempsey cried like I have never heard her cry before. Sadly, Danica has heard that cry before because Dempsey just got her cast off of her other arm from having two broken bones in her arm from falling off of the her parents bed. (On another note, Dylan, her oldest, broke his arm the same week as Dempsey by falling off the monkey bars at a friends house.) Anyway, long story short...they took her to the emergency room back in Joplin (an hour drive or so) and it turned out what we thought was a broken bone was "nursemaid's elbow". I guess it is the leading reason children are taken to ERs. Apparently it needs to be taken care of within 12 hours of happening so it is a good thing they took her to the ER. They popped her elbow back in and she was in perfect working order again in five mintues time. Of course by this time it was 3 am and her parents were very tired. Davin, Alea, Dylan, Delaney (their other child), their friend Carol and I stayed at the lake house. The other kids never knew Danica and Joe left for a few hours. I slept with Dylan until they got home in case he woke up in the night and went looking for them. We didn't want him to get scared or to wonder around outside. He never even rolled over! :) I felt really bad for my sister in law. She couldn't stand to hear her baby cry like that but I knew she was afraid to take Dempsey to the hospital because she was afraid they could call DHS on her even though they were really all just accidents. I told her I figured they would dismiss Dempsey but I wasn't so sure about them releasing Joe and Danica. Luckily they never even questioned her story.

We are home now and we are all very tired.
:)
Happy Labor Day!

American Girl

Last month Alea auditioned for an American Girl fashion show here in town for the Arts Center of the Ozarks. Hundreds of girls tried out and they only choose a few so I tried to talk up how great it was just to get to try out. Alea seemed understand that the odds of her getting chosen were very slim so we walked away with a happy attitude and were just glad we got to experience the day together and be around others girls who love AG too. Low and behold, a week later I got an email that she was chosen. She will be playing a Bitty Baby twin with another little girl. I can't wait to see the girl they partnered her with. I wonder if they will look a lot alike. This week I have a parent informational meeting. She has two fittings she will attend along with rehersal and then the show on October 1st. It is very exciting for this mommy and daughter.

Our Summer

Tonight Alea was talking about a writing promt she was working on at school about what she did this summer. I realized there was so much we did this summer and I want to record it on here.
Here are some of the highlights:

Swimming lessons and going off the diving board
Getting an American Girl doll (Molly, WWII era)
Going to the American Girl store in Kansas City
Alea spending a lot of time at Gramma and Papa's
Reading chapter books
reading books for the summer library reading program
going to a Naturals baseball game
getting 2 baseballs at the Naturals game
Play dates with Macy and Brenna
Play dates with Natalie and her siblings

Going on a road trip to:
Mt. Rushmore
Rocky Mountain National Park
Garden of the Gods (Colorado)
Cave of the Winds (Colorado)
Pike's Peak
Manitou Springs, CO
Royal Gorge
Great Sand Dunes National Park
Mesa Verde National Park

Shopping, shopping, shopping
making American Girl furniture with Papa
swimming
family reunion (Davin's mom's family)

Lots of good times!!!

"The Help"

I went to see "The Help" tonight with my friend Becky. It was very good. A lot of people in the theater started clapping at the end of the movie. I recommend it.

June

It has been a long time since I have written on here. My poor blog.

Alea and I started our summer break a week and a half ago and have been enjoying every minute of it! Last week Alea had VBS in the evenings and this week she has Girl Scout camp each morning from 8-12. I have been making the most of my time from 8-12 whether it be just staying in bed watching movies or getting my grocery shopping done.

Yesterday Alea had a photoshoot with a new, young photographer. He is the husband of the music teacher at my school. I am very excited to see the pictures.

Davin has been working a TON lately. He got a promotion and he is working a lot of hours and then even has to go back in at night around 10 PM for an hour or two several nights a week. He is pretty much a walking zombie at this point. My biggest concern when he took this job was that I might begrudge him the hours he was working and not spending with us but the reality is I just feel bad for him.

Alea said the other day, "We don't do anything as a family anymore, do we?" I was heading to bunco and she was going to spend the evening with her daddy after having spent the day with me. I told her we were going on a long vacation soon so she will be getting plenty of family time.

Until next time...

Happy 7th Birthday Alea!

Today Alea turned 7 years old! Davin went to her school and helped out as a "Watch D.O.G. Dad". I think she had a good time. I had Davin take her a bouquet of balloons tied to two boxes of gummy candies. Davin came home with grass stains on his jeans. I guess when you are a dad at recess you become part of the jungle gym. Needless to say, when Davin got home from school he was completely worn out! ha! :) For dinner we invited Alea's bff to join us for dinner. We went to one of Alea's favorite places to eat...Red Robin. The girls seemed to have a good time. Alea received a Wii for her birthday from us. She was very excited about it. It was already annoying me as she and Davin played it so I moved to the other room. I hate video games. Yuck!

Soccer

Saturday was Alea's first soccer game of the season. They lost, but they did much better than the first game of last season. Alea seems much more into it this season and is working much harder. I am very proud of her. Go Purple Pirates!

Alea's last day to be 6

I can't believe my baby girl is going to 7 years old in just a few hours. Wow!

Cowgirl Alea

Alea did a great job on her solo for the rodeo performance first grade put on. See the pics below.

Pretend Bday

Alea and Reed had their birthday party this weekend with my side of the family. Reed turned 2 in Feb. and Alea will turn 7 in April so we celebrate in March when my sister and her family are in town during their spring break.

Famous American

The first grade students at Alea's school were each given a Famous American to research and dress up like and then present to the kindergarteners, 2nd graders and parents. Alea's famous American was Betsy Ross. She did a great job at the presentation today. She was the 2nd best Betsy Ross EVER!

more snow

Well, I'm not going to Princeton, NJ. Our airport is shut down. I'd rather be home than stuck in an airport though.



They were calling for 2-4 inches and as of right now we have 26 inches. They say the worst of the storm is right over us.

Davin is home today and he and Alea have big plans to go out in the snow later today.

Alea's room

Alea's room is put back together, for now. My dad is making her bedroom furniture and we should have it soon. When we get it we will do a little more rearranging. We took out the long dresser that was in there so she has more play area now and it already looks and feels so much better.

43

Forty-three coats of paint later and I'm done painting Alea's room. Whew! Who knew covering up pink paint would be so difficult.

It is snowing here again. Actually it has been snowing all day. We are under another winter weather warning. They are saying another 3-5 inches. The roads are still terrible here. I won't be surprised if we don't have work on Monday too.

I am suppose to leave for Princeton on Wednesday. I wonder if that is still going to happen. Flights are a mess all over the U.S.

Painting

I hate painting and I am terrible at it! 'nuf said!!

More snow day adventures

Today Alea and her BFF (Macy) had a 6 1/2 hour play date. Half of the time at Macy's house (who happens to be our neighbor) and the other 1/2 at our house. They got along really well and had a blast.

I started painting Alea's room today. I am painting it a light/mint green color. She is getting new furniture that my dad is making for her. She picked out a plum bedspread and decided she wanted this color for the walls. (I was thinking of painting the walls grey but the bag that had the comforter in it had a picture of the bedspread with light green walls so Alea wanted the green color.) The paint guy told me that the brand of paint I bought has a built in primer so I'd only have to paint over the pink walls once. WRONG...it is going to need 3 coats! My goal is to paint one wall per day so I don't mess up my back. I got 2 coats on one wall today.

I am using black, white and grey accessories in the room.

The King's Speech

The King's Speech was amazing! I highly recommend it. I am a fan of Colin Firth.

Girl's Night

Tomorrow night I am going out with my friend Becky (that I work with) for a girl's night. Dinner, a movie and a trip to the bookstore. We both love to hang out at the bookstore. We are going to see The King's Speech. I like Colin Firth and Becky is a speech pathologist (currently working as an ESOL teacher) so I think she will like the film even more since it is about a speech problem the king has (as well as other story plots I'm sure).

I am looking forward to a big girl movie and some adult conversation, especially since Alea and I might be home together some next week with another snow and ice storm coming our way.

Snow days 2 and 3

Snow day today and tomorrow. This makes the 2nd and 3rd snow days of the year. Alea and I are spending our days sleeping in and watching movies on download. Good times.

Devil's Food Rollo Candy Cookies

I made these tasty cookies today for us to enjoy. Davin's parents are here this evening and are staying the night to stay home with Alea tomorrow. I have an inservice day and Alea does not have school. Yummy.

I also made an apple crisp and orange rolls along with fridge mashed pototoes and the sirloin and mushroom main dish from last weeks OAMC day.

Pics to follow.

Potato soup pizzazz

Tonight at dinner I realized I forgot to add the salt and pepper to the potato soup, so I added it everyones soup bowl. Alea tasted her soup and said that the salt and pepper "did add that certain pizzazz". My goodness, what a goofy girl! Pics of the soup are below.

Snow day and cookies

Today Alea and I both were blessed with snow days (everyone needs an unexpected day off now and again). Alea was invited to play next door with her BFF and has been there for several hours. I have called and checked in but they are doing wonderful, so I guess they are staying there and playing a while longer.

I did the typical house cleaning that I think most moms do on snow days but then I busted out the cookbooks and made two different batches of cookies. I made chewy chocolate chip cookies and easy sugar cookies. The chocolate chip cookies have oats in them. They look a lot like the cookies I made last week one day after work. The sugar cookies did seem easier than my moms recipe (I'm not sure what the difference is right off the top of my head though) and they seemed more flavorable as well...don't tell my mom!

Yummy! Pics below.

pictures of food

I heard from one of my faithful followers (you know who you are) that the pictures made the cooking blog more exciting, so below you will find the picture of our ravioli that was dinner tonight. I forgot to take the picture until after I had made up our plates but hopefully you get the idea. We also had parmesan knots and corn.

What's for dinner?

The freezer is full. Pic below.

OAMC day

Here is a list of what I cooked today. I was too busy and too tired to take pictures this time.

veggie lasagna-2 meals
chicken puffs-3 meals
cheesy ravioli-2 meals (with homemade spaghetti sauce)
homeade spaghetti and meatballs-2 meals
sirloin tips with mushroom gravy-2 meals
chicken and dumplings-2 meals
baked honey mustard chicken-3 meals
low fat BBQ pork chops-2 meals
cheesy bacon and potato soup-2meals
BBQ onion burgers-3 meals
ranch burgers-2 meals
cheeseburger cups-a lot of meals--we ate them for dinner tonight and I sent about 12 cups to the neighbors. I will use this as an after school snack for Alea this week and probably won't freeze them.
chicken tenders-2 meals
parmesan crusted pork chops-2 meals

Needless to say the freezer if FULL!!!

Paula Dean Stock Pot

I treated myself to a new Paula Dean stock pot for my cooking efforts. It is red with black speckles. It is huge. I can double my spaghetti and meatball recipe now.

And the winner is...

Cheesy vegetable soup! Tonight I made the cheesy vegetable soup from my OAMC stash and it was a huge hit. Davin and I really enjoyed it. Alea even said it was good and that is saying something. I think it might be the best dish so far from the OAMC escapades.

New Cookbooks

The three new cookbooks I ordered from Amazon arrived tonight. I plan to start studying them tomorrow. I'll let you know what good things I find.

Actually, Davin is watching the Arkansas vs. Ohio State Sugar Bowl game so I might start studying them right now. :)

Princeton, NJ

I booked my flights for my trip to Princeton, New Jersey today. The company I will be working for takes care of all the details so I just had to call and talk to a travel agent who booked everything for me. I will be flying into Philly. I thought I'd fly into Newark but the agent said they were both the same distance from Princeton University where I'll be working. I will be staying the night Friday night and not flying out until Saturday afternoon so I will at least get to walk around the campus and take in the sites of Princeton which I am very happy about. A few years ago I got to experience Harvard's campus and MIT's campus so I'm excited about seeing Princeton...even if it is in February.

New Jersey

I have been selected to work on a multi-state committee for a teacher test that many states use. The committee work will take place in Princeton, New Jersey over two days in February. I would really like to extend my time there and enjoy some culture and sights of the area but with the weather being so cold in February I'm not sure what I would want to do and could do. Davin won't go with me because he hates big cities. I don't mind traveling and experiencing things alone but I don't know what I want to do. New York City, Philedelpia and Lancaster, PA are only 2 hours away.